Broadcasters offered new way of distributing video content via the internet

The prospect of watching any TV channel on the internet at any time in any language from anywhere in the world is no longer a distant dream.

RRsat Global Communications – best known for its end-to-end TV channel distribution solutions - has recently launched an internet TV service that it plans to grow rapidly. Called RRsat Global Internet TV , it offers broadcasters the opportunity to distribute their programmes to all corners of the earth in a cost-effective way.

Lior Rival, RRsat’s Deputy CEO and VP Sales and Marketing, told TVZ that the new business offers enormous growth opportunities. At the moment the company – which has teleports in Israel and the USA –

Lior Rival, RRsat Deputy CEO

distributes more than 500 TV channels via satellite and fiber and out of these, more than 100 are also being distributed on the internet. Lior said, “Of course satellite is still the main way for distribution but we see a big, big demand for channels wanting internet distribution.”

Jonathan Cramer, RRsat’s Internet TV and IPTV manager, said, “The potential for growth is tremendous because the internet offers opportunities to broadcasters that weren’t there before. They now have carriage for their channels to anywhere in the world.”

RRsat is not the only company hoping to benefit from this new type of business. But it believes its advantages over competitors are three-fold: pricing, quality of service and a complete end-to-end solution.

Jonathan said RRsat charges broadcasters a low monthly fee for distributing their channels on the internet - unlike some competitors whose pricing policies are dependent on the number of viewers attracted to a channel or the amount of time viewers spend watching a programme. He said, “This means broadcasters can’t budget because they don’t know what the numbers of viewers will be. Ours is a constant and very low fee.”

The technology RRsat uses is a peer-to-peer system which it says cuts down on network costs; it also reduces buffering and

Jonathan Cramer, RRsat Internet TV Manager

blockiness to ensure good visual quality. Broadcasters have the choice of either hosting their channels on their own websites or have viewers access the signal via the RRsat Global Internet TV portal. To view a channel, a person simply needs to download and install the RRsat software Player onto their PC.

Although RRsat has always been associated with satellite and fiber transmission and distribution – including uplink, downlink, turnaround and SNG services - Lior sees the new business as a natural progression into new technology. “Besides our name ‘RRsat’, we are not a satellite company,” he said. “We are a solution provider for broadcasters to deliver content around the world.”